“It was like a war zone. Utter devastation,” said Palma of her neighborhood. She watched her neighbors walking around their destroyed properties inspecting the damage and crying over everything they had lost.

Palma discovered her house had been submerged in three to four feet of water. From the force of the water, the house’s contents had been pushed into the kitchen. The front porch had floated away and was sitting down the block. The fence was gone. She never imagined she could lose everything in just one night.

Palma and her family remained displaced for the next three years, two months, and two days. The process of applying for aid from the state, institutions designed to support people in need after a disaster, was frustrating and slow. After a year of wading through bureaucracy, they were told they did not qualify for support.

At a loss for what to do next, Palma heard from a friend about A Future With Hope, an International Relief Teams partner organization, that was rebuilding homes for those in need in New Jersey. It took just 10 months and she was home again in a brand new house built by IRT volunteers.

Palma is incredibly thankful to these two organizations for working together to give her back her life. She knows without their support, she would still be homeless.
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